The Everything Essential Music Theory Book

Master musical skills quickly and easily! From classical music to new age, hard rock, and pop, music has always played an important role in everyday life. Whether you're an intermediate musician or an aspiring music major, The Everything Essential Music Theory Book is a guide to mastering one of the most important tools for every musician: musical understanding. This compact, portable volume covers all the basics, including: The construction of chords and scales How to understand rhythm and time signatures How keys are identified and organized Creating harmonization and melody With each clear and easy-to-understand chapter, musician and educator Marc Schonbrun takes you through the essentials of music theory--the very glue that holds music together.

Offers comprehensive musical understanding, including explanations of scales, chords, and harmonization.

Covers everything novice musicians and lifelong learners need to know. Full of music trivia, music history, comprehensive instruction and visual aids, music symbols, and chords throughout. This is a crash course in music theory that even professionals will enjoy.

Includes audio compact disc (cd).

This practical, easy-to-use, self-study course is perfect for pianists, guitarists, instrumentalists, vocalists, songwriters, arrangers and composers, and includes ear training CDs to help develop your musical ear. In this all-in-one theory course, you will learn the essentials of music through 75 concise lessons, practice your music reading and writing skills in the exercises, improve your listening skills with the enclosed ear training CDs, and test your knowledge with a review that completes each of the 18 units. Answers are included in the back of the book for all exercises, ear training and review.

Get more out of music with this essential guide Music Theory For Dummies makes music theory easy to understand, with a friendly, unintimidating overview of everything you need to know to become fluent at knocking out beats, reading musical scores, and learning to anticipate where a song should go—whether you're reading someone else's music or writing your own. Whether you're a music student or a music lover, you'll learn to read, write, and understand music with this informative guide. With expert instruction, you'll put it all together as you compose, arrange, and create original melodies, harmonies, and chords of your own, with helpful tips for performing your pieces in front of an audience. This new third edition presents the most current teaching techniques, the newest music genres and examples, and updated information on all aspects of understanding, creating, and performing music. Studies have shown that music training improves children's' verbal and spatial abilities, and it's been associated with cognitive and mathematical benefits in adults. The music job market is expected to increase over the coming years, and music theory is becoming an increasingly common part of education at all levels. Music Theory For Dummies provides the instruction you need to get more out of music than you ever thought possible. Master major and minor scales, intervals, pitches, and clefs Understand basic notation, time signals, tempo, dynamics, and navigation Employ melodies, chords, progressions, and phrases to form music Compose harmonies and accompanying melodies for voice and instruments Whether you intend to pursue a degree or career in music, or just enjoy listening to it, understanding the theory behind it gives you a whole new appreciation for the artistry and craftsmanship behind the pieces that give you goose bumps. It's a mix of technical skill, inborn talent, and plenty of practice – and now you can try your hand at it, with Music Theory For Dummies.